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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29734305">Days Like These</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinadogg/pseuds/pinadogg'>pinadogg</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Lego Ninjago, The LEGO Ninjago Movie (2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 20:34:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>778</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29734305</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinadogg/pseuds/pinadogg</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Cole and Wu had a similar dynamic in the movie?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cole &amp; Sensei Wu (Ninjago)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Days Like These</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>based on an hc i came up with of these two recently! writing is hard though</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time Cole meets him is when he's wondering, not for the first time, what he had done wrong. </p><p> </p><p>It's raining and Cole doesn't have an umbrella. He's been here for hours. It hasn't been long enough. It will never be long enough.  He'll never be good enough.</p><p> </p><p>"Lovely day for rain, is it not?"</p><p> </p><p>He snaps out of his thoughts, his eyes flickering away from the tombstone for a second before mumbling, "Yeah."</p><p> </p><p>He hears a humming noise.  "Though, like any other day, it'd be nice to prepare for such a day." Cole merely shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly, hoping this guy would get the message and leave him alone. No such thing happens. Instead the man stands there, and Cole can feel his eyes on him as they stand in silence.</p><p> </p><p>"It doesn't bother me," He says eventually, even though it did very much bother him. He can feel the cold seeping, he could for a while now, but Cole doesn't make any move to make it better. Cole tightens his fists. He doesn't deserve it, not when she's buried six feet under with no one to comfort or help her and he's such a bad son why couldn't he have been better--</p><p> </p><p>"I find that hard to believe."</p><p>
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</p><p>"What do you want," Cole says angrily albeit tiredly, finally turning to the man for the first time. "Don't you have anything better to do, like bugging somebody else?!"</p><p> </p><p>The man makes no move to reprimand him for his outburst, nor does he give any attention to it at all. He's an old man with a rice hat and a long beard (like, super long, how long has this guy had it for?). He's wearing white robes and holding an abnormally sized flute and Cole feels bad as he realizes that this is just an old guy trying to make conversation despite the circumstances. Geez, was he really that bad of a person?</p><p> </p><p>He sighs. "I'm sorry. I just..." </p><p>
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</p><p>"You value your loved ones," The man muses, "They must be very proud of you." Cole's thoughts come to a halt. </p><p> </p><p>Proud of him? How could his mom be proud of him when he didn't do everything he could to improve her health? How could his dad be proud of him when Cole always came back with C's? He took his time for granted, he's always disappointing everyone around him!</p><p> </p><p>"You—," He croaks, and his eyes sting. For once, Cole is thankful for the rain, "You're wrong, I could have done something! I could've--" He shakes his head, unable to find the words.</p><p> </p><p>Cole stares at the gravestone, clenching and unclenching his fists. He's not gonna break down. Not here. Especially not in front of some strange old guy.</p><p> </p><p>"You must not blame yourself for these things,” the man says, “It will only tear you down.”<br/><br/>Cole opens his mouth to object, but then closes it back. As much as he wants to argue, to say that he doesn’t get it, a small part of him realizes that he’s <em> right. </em>Even if it still feels like Cole contributed to her death. It might feel like that for a long time. ‘It was always inevitable,’ He thinks grimly. He heaves out a sigh as he hears footsteps moving closer in his direction.</p><p> </p><p>They both stare at the gravestone then, listening to the raindrops hitting the earth. He wonders how it would feel to be a part of it.</p><p> </p><p>His body jolts as a loud crack of thunder fills the air, accompanied by a lightning streak brightening the sky. It starts to pour harder. Cole involuntarily shivers.</p><p> </p><p>"Perhaps," the man starts, "now would be a good time to seek some shelter. You would not want anyone to worry about your whereabouts, would you?"</p><p> </p><p>"He doesn't care," He finds himself saying, staring at the ground once more, "He stopped caring about that stuff." Nowadays it seemed his dad was too busy to even pay attention to him at all. He shakes away the bitter thoughts.</p><p> </p><p>The man stares at him with an expression he can't read, before resting a hand on his shoulder. "Take care of yourself," Is all he says. </p><p> </p><p>"I find much potential in you, Cole Brookstone."</p><p> </p><p>Cole's head snaps back up at the usage of his name. He never gave this stranger that information. How did he— ? He turns to look at the man, but to no avail. The man is out of sight, as if he'd never been there in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>"Weird..." Cole mutters as the rain continues to pour. </p><p> </p><p>He shivers again. Maybe it would be a good idea to go back home now.</p><p>
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